Baby Shower Gift of the Week: Ding Dong Dinner!

If you have a child already, you well know how hard it is for you or your partner to rustle up some dinner during those first few frantic weeks home from the hospital (or even to remember to rustle it up, let’s be honest). If on the other hand you’re expecting your first baby – then let me tell you from experience, you’ll want this baby shower gift!

My sister Sabrina, an experienced mommy of two, arrives at baby showers with a sign up sheet and polls the guests to see who wants to volunteer to bring meals to the new parents once the little one arrives, with the goal of providing meals each night for two weeks.

When talking to the friends of the mommy-to-be, she lays down the ground rules:

• Nothing spicy and no chocolate (transfers through breast milk and can affect the baby).
• If you are not a cook, please consult the list of delivery places with meal preferences chosen by the new parents.
• Sign up for what date you’d like so that there is no doubling of deliveries, nor are there days of famine.
• Be sure to call ahead of your delivery to make sure you’re not interrupting nap time.

Last but not least (and consult the parents on this one, everyone is different), new parents can often be in a surreal state of adjustment and can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the idea of “entertaining” visitors right away. Be prepared to simply drop off your meal and be on your way. There will be plenty of time for visiting and cooing over the new bundle after those first frantic weeks have passed.

I can’t tell you how valuable this gift was to us in the beginning of our new adventure.

Bon Apetit!